U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to a new record low of 3.66 percent following weak economic indicators, mortgage financier Freddie Mac said Thursday.

The 30-year rate was down from last week's average of 3.71 percent and has fallen to a record low in seven out of the past eight weeks. Fifteen-year mortgages fell to 2.95 percent from 2.98 percent in the previous week and 3.69 percent in the year-ago period. Five-year Treasury-indexed adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, averaged 2.77 percent, down from 2.80 percent in the past week and 3.25 in the prior year. One-year ARMs fell to 2.74 percent from 2.78 percent in the prior week and 2.99 percent in the previous year.

"Treasury bond yields eased somewhat this week on some worsening economic indicators bringing mortgage rates back into record low territory," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, citing weakness industrial production and consumer sentiment. However, construction and homebuilder confidence indexes were up.

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